Reid's Nightmares
by 14LuvMusic
Summary: Based on the episode The Popular Kids (Season 1 Episode 10). Reid's nightmares appear to be getting worse and worse and the more cases he works on the more terrifying and real his nightmares become. Whilst on a case, a girl's body is found which tips Reid over the edge. His night terror sends his colleagues running to him but who will be the one to comfort him back to sanity?


Hey guys, a short slightly fluffy ReidxHotch here. This takes place during the episode The Popular Kids (Season 1 Episode 10) and is kind of what would happen if Reid's nightmares became too much for him to handle. Please comment, review, praise, constructively criticise.  
Well are we sitting comfortably? Good, then we shall begin :)

* * *

"Hm, no." He shifts uncomfortably.  
"Nope, no." He shakes his head vigorously.  
"No, no, no no no no no no no no no." He curls into a ball and starts to shake.  
"No no no no no, NO!"  
His upper body shoots out of bed at breakneck speed. He pants, controlling his breathing he begins to look around his room. It was another dream, well nightmare more like.  
He sighed as he flopped back down onto his pillow, raising a hand to his forehead, "I can't keep doing this, I've gotta talk." He shook his head before flicking on his bedside lamp and picking up a book on The Origins of Autism.

(Next Day)  
"Easy there tough guy, have some coffee with your sugar." Morgan teased.  
As the last few grains of sugar poured into the hot drink Reid suddenly realised he had used up the whole pot and now his coffee was nearly saturated in sugar. He frowned then carried on stirring, "I need something to wake me up."  
"Ooh, late night?"  
"Very."  
"My man." Morgan thought that if he himself could get a girl anyone could.  
"Not that kind of late night." Clearly that wasn't the case.  
Morgan chuckled, "Okay." He placed a hand on Reid's shoulder. "So tell me, what does keep young Dr Reid awake at night?"  
Reid turned to face him.  
"Wait let me guess, memorising some obscure textbook? No, no, no. Working on cold fusion." He raised his finger, "No, I got, I got it, I got it. Watching Star Trek and laughing at the physics mistakes." He raised his eyebrows in question.  
Reid shook his head, "Actually, there aren't that many scientific errors in Star Trek. Especially considering how long ago it was made."  
Morgan's face dropped.  
Reid carried on oblivious, "There are certain improbabilities, but not that many outright errors."  
Morgan's puzzled expression said it all, "...Er...Right." He turned and started to walk away, before Reid's voice stopped him.  
"Hey, Morgan? *Cough*, Er, Do you ever have dreams?"  
Morgan turned to face his colleague, "I'm sorry?"  
"I guess, er, nightmares would be a more accurate description."  
Morgan suddenly understood, "Is that what's keeping you up?"  
"I used to get them occasionally, but lately it's like I have them every night."  
"What are they about?"  
"This. What we do."  
The next question caught Morgan off guard slightly.  
"Do you have nightmares?"  
Morgan sighed, "Reid, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for you to talk to about this."  
Reid was almost desperate, "Why not?"  
"It's just... Have you asked Gideon about this?"  
"No."  
"You should."  
Elle suddenly interrupts, "Hey, Hotch want everyone in the Round Table Room." Her trained profiler nose smelt the awkward tension between the two men, "Something up with you two?"  
Reid was unusually quick to respond, "No." He swiftly left.

A few days into the case Hotch and Reid were flicking through some case notes in the West Massanutten Police Department.  
*Yawn*  
"Tired?" Hotch noticed without even looking from the notes.  
"I'm fine." Reid unconvincingly stated.  
Neither of them glanced up from their notes throughout the entire conversation.  
"We all get them sometimes."  
"Get what?"  
"Nightmares."  
Reid looks up astonished and dumbfounded. He looks over the room until his eyes gazed upon Morgan on the phone. He then looks back to his notes, "It's not that bad."  
Hotch places a hand on Reids arm, "If you want to talk about it , you know where I am."

The night Cherish's body was found Reid woke up in a cold sweat yet again, though this time it was worse. He began to scream, sweat dripping down his forehead, tears streaming down his cheeks. His piercing, terrified shrieks woke the whole team up. Morgan reached the door just seconds ahead of Gideon and Hotch, just moments later Elle and JJ arrive as Morgan lifted a leg and kicked open the door.  
Morgan enters the room to witness Reid curled in a ball on the bed, hands tightly gripping his hair, face wet from tears and sweat, his whole body shaking, screaming, crying. Morgan was frozen to the spot just inside the door as Hotch and Gideon pushed past to get to Reid. Gideon paused just ahead of Morgan to stand and watch as Hotch sat on the edge of the bed and drew Reid into his arms. Reid immediately gripped onto Hotch's lapel, buried his head into his suit jacket and sobbed uncontrollably into his superior's chest. Morgan turned and punched the wall behind him, the girls flinched and Gideon spun around to see what the problem was, "Morgan?"  
The pumped up agent rested his forehead against the cold hard wall as he attempted to calm himself.  
Gideon slowly approached Morgan and placed his hands on his subordinates shoulders, "Morgan."  
Morgan roughly shrugged the hands off him, "Get off me!" He growled and stormed out of the room.  
Gideon sighed defeated but undeterred. He proceeded to calmly follow the young agent to figure out his problem.

JJ looked back towards the two men on the bed, "Hotch?" Her voice was tearful and full of heartbreak.  
Hotch held his hand up to stop her, "Go." He whispered, gently rocking the boy into comfort.  
Both JJ and Elle heeded his words and left giving the two men a solace smile before walking away.  
"It's ok." Hotch whispered. He kissed Reid's head lovingly, "It's all ok."

Meanwhile, Morgan approached his inn room, roughly swinging the door open he then went to slam it shut behind him, though the lack of noise from the collision of door against frame caused him to pause. As he spun around he was greeted by the sight of a bitter Gideon holding the large piece of furnished wood open.  
Gideon gesticulated questioningly to which Morgan mirrored with a similar yet less confused manner.  
"What's gotten into you? All this pent up anger?"  
Morgan looked astonished, he pointed to himself, "What's gotten into me?"  
Gideon replayed his previous puzzled gesture.  
Morgan then pointed in the direction of Reid's room, "What's gotten into Reid?"  
Gideon held his mouth agape with not a single squeak escaping it.  
"The kid is terrified, Gideon. And I can do nothing to help him. Nothing."  
Gideon shut the door, leaning against it he folded his arms, "What's he frightened of?"  
Morgan turned away from Gideon and placed his hand on the light switch, illuminating the dark room, "He said he has nightmares." He revealed solemnly.  
Gideon lowered his head in understanding, "Ah. What is it that he dreams?"  
Morgan raised his finger, still turned away from his boss, "Well, you know what? He never got to that part and do you know why?"  
"Why?"  
Morgan turned to face his comrade, "Because I told him that he should talk to you instead and that I'd refuse to listen because I can't help him."  
Gideon shook his head slowly.  
Morgan's anger began to increase again as the image of Reid in distress kept replaying in his head, "I've never seen Reid so disturbed before, he was screaming for help, crying in fear, he was petrified Gideon, and I stood there and did fuck all. All this time I could have helped him, and I ran away for the selfish reason that it would bring back my nightmares - "  
"That's not selfish." Gideon interrupted quietly.  
"Do you know how bad I feel right now because of that!?"  
Morgan's enraged outburst didn't even perturb the experienced profiler, who hung his head in thought.  
"All this time, I was too scared to bring back bad memories, that I neglected a friend, a friend who was vulnerable and in desperate need of my help and I just ignored him and palmed him off onto someone else. He confided in me, Gideon, he trusted me and wanted me to help him, I said to him, I said 'Gideon will be more of a help than me, he knows how to deal with your situation, I'm not the one you should be asking about things like this.' And I've only just realised why he would come to me about it, he trusts me, he's scared that if he talked to you or Hotch he would be perceived as unfit for duty." He dropped to the floor, crouched with his hands over his head, his voice was tiny and tearful, "What have I done?"  
Gideon strolled over to him and gingerly placed a caring hand on his back, realising that it was accepted he crouched down next to his skilled and young subordinate, he rubbed Morgan's back caringly.

Hotch rocked Reid back and forth with him, comforting the poor kid, the words 'you're safe' just kept raining from his mouth showering Reid with confident yet soothing whispers, mitigating Reid's fears and terrors.  
"I just wanna forget." Came Reid's tearful voice from inside Hotch's suit jacket. He felt his boss's calming rocking hitch slightly. He lifted his head out and looked up at his guardian, "I wanna forget all of them, all of my nightmares, the images of the people we can't save, the scenarios that nearly get us killed when we try to save them, the UNSUBS we can never catch in time." He sobbed, "I want them gone from my head."  
Hotch looked down into those deep pools of hazel, eyes that are still so young yet have seen so much, so much hate, so much anger, so much hurt, eyes that have seen _too _much. The eyes called for help, they _screamed _for help, something, anything to rescue them from the horrors they've seen, and Hotch was going to be their saviour.

Hotch leaned down, hesitantly closing his eyes. Reid was too astonished to move, he was an expert in reading body language and knew exactly what Hotch was about to do.

(Reid's POV)  
I knew, I knew what he was going to do, but _I_ didn't know what to do, I mean do I pull away and tell him I'm not in the mood? Or do I go along with it and if I feel it's going to far just tell him? I couldn't deny that I wanted him to do it, Hotch is quite an attractive man, but I was in a vulnerable position, I get the feeling he might be taking advantage of me.  
His lips were still approaching mine, closer and closer. I was frozen; I was still stuck on what to do, stop him now? Or stop him after? I felt his breath on my lips, he was close now, very close, when he paused. He must have sensed my nervous hesitation. He pulled away slightly and whispered, "You don't have to let me do this."  
"I-I want you to." My voice came out crackled and almost inaudible, but he seemed to understand, I suppose lovers do. Though we're not lovers, we're profilers, so of course we understand each other. Though I do like him, and I really want him to just press his soft supple -.  
Before I knew it his lips we on mine.


End file.
